#77 Plenty of Onlookers
Choi Kang-ho stared openly at the old man. The old man was looking back at him. His eyes were unlike any Kang-ho had ever seen in any race—eyes etched with constellations, like stars mapped across the irises!
Suddenly, the old man spoke.
"We meet again."
Kang-ho walked silently toward him. He was alone in this vast space, just as he had been the last time they'd met.
"Forty years, was it?"
Kang-ho remembered that time clearly—the day he'd visited the gate with Kang Jun-seok.
"...Yeah."
At that moment—
Pop!
Seol-a leaped from Kang-ho's arms and climbed onto the anvil, gazing up at the old man with wide eyes.
"......"
The old man looked down at her and smiled faintly.
Shaaah—
Seol-a's body began to glow, drawing in the unique mana permeating the space around them.
Watching this, the old man gave a bittersweet smile.
"Unfortunately, this child can't come to our dimension."
"...?"
He knew. He knew about Seol-a—or more precisely, about the Silver White Fang subspecies.
Kang-ho glanced around the world again. Meteors rained from the sky!
Doom!
Yes. If a meteor shower like this struck any world, it wouldn't survive.
Gulp.
Kang-ho slowly opened his mouth.
"What happened to your dimension?"
The old man gazed silently at the sky. Kang-ho spoke again.
"Did it perish?"
"Yes."
"...!"
"This landscape captures the final moments of the world I lived in. I've grown used to watching it like this."
Kang-ho recalled their previous encounter.
"Where was your dimension?"
"The Ninth Dimension, known as Izenbaum."
The nine-tailed mural from Toon World. The ninth world.
"...What caused its destruction?"
As he stroked Seol-a's head, the old man answered.
"They stole our primordial essence."
"..."
Primordial essence. Kang-ho realized it meant the Eternal Crystal.
"Stole it...?"
"Remember this well."
The old man's eyes gleamed ominously.
"A dimension that loses its primordial power inevitably meets its end. The survivors of doomed worlds lose their homes and become eternal wanderers like this."
Thump.
Thump.
Kang-ho's heart pounded.
"Was it the Demon Realm beings?"
The old man shook his head.
"The Demon Realm folk are aggressive, but there are even greater powers."
Kang-ho's mind flashed to the demons—aggregations of demonic energy that had appeared after Daybreak fifty years ago. Just thinking of those eerie entities made him shiver involuntarily.
"Indeed."
As if reading his thoughts, the old man continued slowly.
"The ones you call demons."
"..."
"We don't know their true nature. But they collapsed our dimension and stole the Eternal Crystal heart."
The old man's gaze shifted to Kang-ho's chest.
"With it gone, the holders of the remaining fragments scattered. Some are trapped in limited spaces like this, wandering dimensions forever..."
He looked toward the far side where Kang-ho had entered, his expression bitter.
"Others must adapt to whatever world they crash-land in... and survive."
"The heart..."
Eternal Crystal. Kang-ho possessed fragments: one from Earth's, five from the Demon Realm.
He could guess what the old man meant by the heart. It resided in his own chest—a presence far greater than the sum of the fragments.
"All I can do is share my possessions with those who show potential."
Sizzle—
The old man pulled something from the glowing red lava. Despite emerging from the molten heat, it emitted a piercing blue light.
Clang!
He began hammering.
"The people of Izenbaum each have unique abilities. Some are born with masterful craftsmanship like this, others with exceptional mechanical engineering."
Clang—
Clang—
"And..."
The old man smiled faintly, his eyes flashing.
"Some can see the future."
Suddenly, a name came to Kang-ho's mind.
Epsilon...
"But even they became refugees, homeless after losing the Eternal Crystal heart."
Clang—
Clang—
The blue metal oddly transformed with each strike, as if shapes were stored within it.
Clang—
Clang—
In the silent world, only the hammer strikes of a smith from a perished realm echoed.
"Your name...?"
"Gunter."
Shaaah!
Before long, a thin cloak lay on the anvil.
"And this is equipment for you."
In the past, he'd forged the Stellar Gauntlets for Kang Jun-seok. Now, after forty years, he appeared again to craft a cloak for Kang-ho.
"We call it Stellar Silk."
Kang-ho approached the anvil and reached for the creation.
A soft touch. Incredibly smooth and thin, like the finest silk—
Whoosh!
It slithered up his fingers like a serpent, wrapping around his body.
"It'll help."
"Wait—"
Kang-ho began.
"Come with me from here."
"Impossible."
"Pardon?"
"This is the final space our clan created with our Eternal Crystal fragment. Made to safeguard our clan's treasures, it appears only before those with potential."
"...!"
"All I can do..."
A wry smile creased his wrinkled face.
"Is ensure you don't repeat our mistakes."
Shaaah—
The surroundings began to fade.
Shaaaah!
Kang-ho watched the meteors rain across the world, each one crumbling reality. The world's collapse was underwhelming—like a childhood sandcastle crumbling bit by bit.
Until it became nothingness. Pure darkness without a speck of light.
Suddenly.
Furball appeared before Kang-ho's eyes. The early spring sun warmed him, a cool breeze brushing pleasantly over his skin.
Lick!
Furball licked his face.
"......"
The gate had vanished.
Kang-ho gazed into the distance. Daegu's sky was clear everywhere—except there, where dark clouds gathered one by one.
Daegu Downtown: Massive Mana Concentration Phenomenon...
Unprecedented Density... Prelude to a Major Gate?!
BIG3 Deploys Elite Forces and Executives to Daegu.
The Four Great Sects Throw Down the Gauntlet...
Contact with Otherworlders Dubbed the 'Demon Realm'...
Disaster? Were the Past Demons from the Demon Realm?
Fears of a Second Daybreak
The media frenzy was like fish in water.
King floored the accelerator of his golden Hellcat.
Vroooom!
He glanced at Theo beside him, who seemed unusually anxious. Theo didn't look pleased.
"Brother Kang-ho's already there."
[......]
"Brother?"
[Huh?]
Theo was biting his thumbnail, lost in thought.
Vroooom!
Countless cars and motorcycles flanked the golden Hellcat, racing toward Daegu.
The opponents: five. But presumed to be transcendent powerhouses from the Demon Realm.
Thump thump thump.
The convoy halted near Daegu. Roads ended here—foot travel from now on.
Whoosh!
Core members of BIG3 and the Four Great Sects appeared everywhere. Elites rarely seen assembled. They represented over 70% of Korea's combat power.
And the media swarmed like bees. Press crews with escorts gathered; mana stone drones filled the skies.
King looked up. Rumble—
Dark clouds blanketed the sky, ominous winds hinting at imminent rain. Ominous.
Tat tat tat.
Crossing Daegu's wilds, King spotted Kang-ho ahead—in the heart of downtown, crouching and petting a shrunken Furball while holding a pocket whiskey bottle.
Thump.
Thump.
His uneasy heart calmed.
-Snap it!
-This is MBS, Daegu correspondent Oh Young-soo. The predicted battlefield of the century, Daegu—we're here.
All former Hero 5 have mobilized, vowing no repeat of past tragedies...
-Major gate prelude...
-First since Yeongjongdo...
"......"
King stared at Kang-ho's back. It looked terribly lonely, solitary.
King knew when Kang-ho drank that whiskey—when his heart felt empty and bitter.
Maybe he felt that way now.
King hated it.
So he ran.
"Brother!"
Panting, King plopped down beside him. Kang-ho handed over the pocket bottle.
"Drink."
"......"
King nodded.
"Yeah."
Gulp gulp. Whiskey burned down his throat, warming his body.
Ahead, clouds massed impossibly thick and dark.
Click—
Click—
Awakener formations spread out, artifacts glowing. Yet the world felt ironically still.
Ruuuuumble!
Lightning cracked through the clouds.
Kraaaack!
A bolt struck the ground with thunderous roar.
Suddenly, pitch-black demonic energy converged from all directions.
Whoooosh!
The gathered energy roiled like black steam.
Kwaaaah!
Space tore open. Beyond the rift: endless darkness.
How long did the stunned silence last, media frenzy hushed?
Shaaah—
Five figures emerged.
"......"
Kang-ho clearly remembered one face.
That's Agarez.
The Demon Realm lord he'd glimpsed when fusing the crystals.
[......]
Agarez scanned the surroundings with a blank expression. A massive greatsword floated beside him, orbiting like a living thing.
[Plenty of onlookers.]
Agarez stepped forward slowly. He reached out, and the floating greatsword flew to his hand.
Gripping it, he smirked.
His eyes fell on one human ahead—possessing power far beyond the rest.